Printing telegraph apparatus



April 4, 1950 A. E. THOMPSON PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS Filed Oct. 22, 1946 lnventar' a]: THOMPSON.

flttorngg Patented Apr. 4, 1950 a PRINTING TELEGRAPH APPARATUS Alfred Edward Thompson, Croydon, England, as-

signor to Creed and Company Limited, Croydon, England, a British company Application October 22, 1946, Serial No. 704,973 In Great Britain June 15, 1945 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires June 15, 1965 3 Claims. (01. 178-38) The present invention may also provide telegraph printing mechanism whereby characters and the corresponding code representations may be printed simultaneously and in transverse lines with successive code representations abutting longitudinally along the telegraph or like tape. The nature of the invention will be understood from the following description of one embodiment read with reference to the accompanying drawing.

In the embodiment to be described, a typewheel spindle, positioned rotatably by any wellknown telegraph selecting and translating means in accordance with the five-unit code, is in the form of a spline shaft I.

Slidably mounted on the shaft are two typewheels 2, 3. Type-wheel 2, carries around its periphery, characters in one case, and the other type-wheel 3, similarly carries characters in the other case. Each type-wheel is fixed to a boss 4 and 5 respectively, and each boss has an annular groove 6, I. A rod 8 mounted to slide in guides parallel with the axis of the type-wheels carries two arms 9, it, having forked ends adapted to engage the grooves in the typewheel bosses. The longitudinal end-ways position of the rod 8 is under the control of the "case shift mechanism positioned by the selecting and translating mechanism of the telegraph receiver. 7

The arrangement is such that for each change of case the rod 8 is moved into one or other of its two endways positions, thereby moving the two type-wheels 2, and 3 along the spline shaft, whilst keeping their distance apart constant.

Fixed to the shaft between the two type-wheels is a drum ll carrying rows of projections arranged parallel to the axis of the shaft, there being one row for each character on either typewheel 2 or 3. Each row of projections represents the five-unit code characteristic corresponding to the associated character on the slidable type-wheels. For this purpose projections are provided in each row corresponding to the marking signals only of the signal combination.

Mounted above the type-wheels 2 and 3 and code drum II is a printing hammer l2 provided with a resilient printing surface, of such dimensions that only one line of projections on the drum II will be struck at any one blow and at the same time only one character on-one of the two type-wheels 2 and 3.

An ink ribbon i3 is fed between the hammer l2 and the type-wheels 2 and 3 and code drum I I so that the ribbon moves in a direction parallel with the axis of the type-wheel.

A paper tape I4 is fed between the ink ribbon and the type-wheels 2 and 3 and code drum ll, so that it moves-at right angles to the axis of the type-wheels.

The arrangement is such that after each angular positioning of the type-wheel spindle, the hammer ll strikes the ink ribbon l3 against the paper tape l4 and the paper tape against one or other of the type-wheels 2 and 3 and against the code drum ll, whereby a character in one case or the other and its corresponding code combination are printed simultaneously on the paper tape. Characters in one case are printed adjacent one edge of the paper tape and characters in the other case are printed adjacent the opposite edge.

According to an alternative arrangement of the invention, the type-wheels and code drum may be inked by an inking roller and the paper struck directly against them by the hammer.

What is claimed is:

1. A telegraph printing mechanism comprising a rotatable shaft adapted to be rotatably positioned in accordance with a predetermined telegraph code, tape moving mechanism adapted to move a recording tape at right angles to the axis of said shaft in response to said code, a code drum having a printing surface representing code representations, said drum axially mounted on said shaft and positioned in register with the major portion of the tape width, a pair of type wheels having printing surfaces containing characters corresponding to the code representations on said drum, said wheels axially mounted on said shaft, each wheel disposed adjacent a different end of said drum, means for moving said wheels in tandem in either direction along said shaft in response to said code, alternate of said wheels adapted to be respectively positioned in printing proximity to a different edge of the tape when said wheels have been moved in difierent 3 directions along said shaft, and means for causing said drum and a selected one of said wheels to simultaneously impress a graphic marking on the tape in response to said code, such marking being determined by the angular position of said shaft and in response to said code.

2. A telegraph printing mechanism as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said wheels in tandem in either direction along said shaft comprises a pair of bosses, each attached to one of said wheels and each having an annular groove therein, a pair of arms each adapted to engage the groove in a difierent one of said bosses, a member connecting said arms and movable along an axis parallel to said shaft.

3. A telegraph printing mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means'fo'r graphically marking said tape comprises an ink ribbon and 4 a printing hammer in operative relation to said wheels and said drum, said ribbon disposed between said wheels, drum and said hammer.

ALFRED EDWARD THOMPSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 915,890 Rufiin Mar. 23, 1909 1,616,326 Nelson Feb. 1, 1927 2,114,294 Green Apr. 19, 1938 2,125,616 Laudano Aug. 2, 1938 2,299,107 Potts Oct. 20, 1942 2,340,803 Fitch Feb. 1, 1944 Herbst Sept. 3, 1946 

